April 29, 2015
Georgie Plant, Bright Yellow
At a Glance
Bio The path that led her to this point
Even from a young age I always opted to live life as creatively and colourfully as possible.
I chose finger painting over playing with dolls, story books over bedtime and requested a red feature wall in my bedroom...when the rest of the house was painted white.
So it was no surprise to my parents when I opted to do all art and language subjects throughout my schooling and shied away from maths and science.
It was this early love of art coupled with my desire to solve problems that steered me towards graphic design.
To me it’s the perfect combination of creativity and problem solving.
I completed a Bachelor of Design Studies at the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, where I had the pleasure of meeting the wonderful and talented Rachel Pisasale (who has since become my fabulous business partner).
After finishing my degree, I worked as the sole designer in a boutique marketing company for a few years before packing my bags to head to London where I ended up living for five years.
It was a wonderful time in my life that not only afforded me many wonderful adventures, great friends and beautiful memories but also exposed me to some challenging and interesting freelance opportunities.
I worked in some great agencies on a variery of large clients including Coca-Cola, Diageo and Rio Tinto which instantly gave me the taste for corporate branding, layout and campaign work.
With such amazing work at my fingertips, it was only the opportunity to join forces with Rachel and start our own agency that saw me move back to Brisbane in 2009 to become a part of Bright Yellow which she had started as a sole trader the year before.
From a humble spare room in Rachel’s house to now a six person strong design team in our own studio, we have loved the challenge of evolving our business to meet the ever-changing goalposts of the design industry.
Q&A Insider advice & tips
What's been your greatest achievement to date?
There is no one job or one client that I would constitute as being our biggest achievement, I think that a combination of many small wins over the years have amounted to one successful outcome.
What's been your biggest challenge so far?
We have found selecting the perfect team to be a big challenge in growing our business. It has taken some wrong fits in the past to know that we currently have the perfect balance.
Best lesson you've learned along the way?
I used to find myself in awe of the success of others and wondering if I should follow suit and approach things their way.
Over time, I have realised that there are many ways to do things and that each person or business should follow their own path and inject their own personality into everything they do.
A website, book or resource that has helped you in your business or inspired you and why?
My day involves a combination of design and business tasks so there are many resources that play a huge role in my working life, a few of my most frequented include Google, Shutterstock and Designspiration.
Also our studio management system, Studiometry is an absolute lifesaver when it comes to quoting and invoicing.
Which person or brand do you most admire and why?
My good friend, Samantha Miklos, owner of Cornerstone Recruitment is a wonderful inspiration for me.
She is passionate, dedicated and extremely hard-working. Nothing is too hard, too far or out of reach for her. If she doesn't know how to do it, she will learn that skill and then master it. She is a rare talent.
What advice would you give someone starting an independent business in your industry?
With a tendency to use mostly the creative side of my brain, I have found that there were (and still are) many areas of business that have posed many obstacles along the way.
My advice is to invest in the right support, ask questions and be willing to learn. Surround yourself with people who are experts in their field.
Finish this sentence
Everything changed for me when…
Life changed for me the day my business partner told me she was pregnant with her first child (she now has two).
In an attempt to be ready for her to go on maternity leave, our business development suddenly went into overdrive.
We quickly moved our studio out of her house and started paying rent. We hired two staff and I became responsible for two people’s weekly income (as well as my own).
It was no longer just the two of us in a room designing, suddenly it was a real business.
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